Impossible Location Card Tricks with John Carey

John Carey and Big Blind Media’s Impossible Location Card Tricks is a collection of 10 tricks presented and taught by John Carey. Three of the tricks are Carey’s and the remainder belong to other, including giants such as Larry Jennings, Nick Trost, Dai Vernon and others.

The project title refers to “Impossible Locations” which is not a card in the middle of an orange, but the ability to find a card once it has been impossibly lost in the deck. To be clear, the impossible location is not where the card ends up, but from where it has been come. Carey presents each and every trick and then teaches them with the help of Liam Montier.

Entrapped, the first trick, is one of the three John Carey originals. It is a good trick, but not a killer. Basically the spectator picks 5 random cards, they think of one and two face up Queens are inserted into the stack of 5. At the end of the trick, the two Queens have trapped the thought of card. This trick is very easy to perform and is for beginners in casual settings.

The 7 card 21 trick by Mike Powers is presented second. It is a very easy trick to perform and although it is mathematical in nature, the presentation really disguises the self-working nature of the routine. After arranging the cards in various piles, the spectator either lies or tells the truth as he answers a few questions i.e. is the card red or black? What is the value? Did you tell the truth? And for each answer, the spectator deals off a card one at a time to match the word. For example, if the answer was that it was a “red” card the spectator would deal three cards – one for each letter R-E-D. The answers for each of the questions have a different amount of letters and some answers have a multitude of choices i.e. what was the value of the card. The most fooling part of the trick for the spectator is that the spectator can either totally lie or tell the truth or sometimes lie and sometimes tell the truth. Carey suggested that this is a trick to do with a bunch of friends, which is a good suggestion because the length of the routine and requirement of having to deal the cards multiple times may not be a good idea for walk around venues. This is a trick to do when you are asked to do a trick.

Bake Off by Jack Tighe is the next trick that is super easy to perform and packs a very large punch. This trick is in reach of any beginner and is very fooling and amazing. Of course Larry Jennings’ Impossible is a classic trick and it is presented and taught excellently. This is the best trick, in my opinion on the DVD. Bloody Amazing by Steve Bryant is a spelling card revelation with a bit too much chatter, compared to some of the other tricks presented.

Carey also presents Nick Trost’s Lost and Found which requires a full deck set-up that for most mortals cannot be set up on the fly. It seems so fair, but is so sneaky and could even fool a magician. Counting On You is a John Carey original and it is simple and very impressive and any novice can knock the pants of their friends with this trick. The next Carey creation, Princess in My Pocket, is very similar to another trick on the DVD in method and presentation and only uses 5 cards from which to find one selected cards. Because I think that finding one of five cards is not that impressive, I will avoid this trick. Carey also presents a Dai Vernon classic, Emotional Reaction, which is a staple trick that every magician should know.

Overall, the Impossible Location Card Tricks DVD has an excellent assortment of card magic well suited for beginner magicians and those that want to impress without relying on sleight of hand skills. It is another great project from Big Blind Media!